The present invention relates to a battery connector, and more particularly to a battery connector for a portable device which is used by being fixed to a printed wiring board (PWB) by soldering or the like.
A battery connector is generally used by being connected to a subject substrate incorporated in an electronic device mounted on a printed wiring board (PWB). Terminal ends are exposed from a housing of the battery connector, and soldering portions project therefrom in flat form.
A 3P battery connector P1, which is a battery connector of a first related art shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, has three contact members 101 constituted by U-shaped spring portions inside a housing 100. As shown in FIG. 8 illustrating a cross section taken along line B—B in FIG. 7, a rear-end extended portion of each contact member 101 is bent toward the rear in an L-shape in a cross-sectional view. The rearwardly bent portion is formed as a soldering portion 102, and the battery connector P1 is attached by soldering to a printed wiring board 3 by soldering by means of one surface of each of the soldering portions 102 (see Japanese Patent No. 2711223, for example).
Further, a 4P battery connector P2 which is a battery connector of a second related art shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 has a housing 200 and four contact members 201 constituted by U-shaped spring portions. A rear-end extended portion of each contact member 201 is formed as a soldering portion 202 projecting toward the printed wiring board 3, and is attached by being inserted in an attaching hole in the printed wiring board 3 at the time of attachment.
Furthermore, both the battery connector P1 of the first related art and the battery connector P2 of the second related art are structured such that openings for fitting the contact members at the time of assembly in a case where the contact members are fitted in the housing at the time of assembly are not open on the mounting side of the printed wiring board.
In the battery connector P1 in first related art, the soldering portion 102 having the L-shaped cross section on the rear side projects from the contact member 101 rearwardly of the housing 100, and partially covers a rear surface of the housing 100. For this reason, after the battery connector P1 is attached at the soldering portions 102 to the printed wiring board 3, it is necessary to cover the exposed portions of the soldering portions 102 with an insulating cover. Therefore, there has been a problem in that the procurement of those parts and the attaching operation are required. In addition, as for the housing 100, since the rear surface side for attaching the soldering portions 102 is open, the sealing performance of the housing interior has been low.
In addition, with the battery connector P1 of the first related art, since it has the soldering portions 102 projecting rearwardly of the housing 100, there has been a problem in that the battery connector P1 cannot be made further compact. There has been another problem in that at the time of soldering the soldering portion 102 and the printed wiring board 3, amounting offset occurs due to the surface tension of the solder. Similarly, the battery pack disclosed in patent document 1 also has problems similar to those of the first related art.
With the battery connector P2 of the conventional technique 2 as well, in the same way as the battery connector P1, since it has the soldering portions 202 projecting from the housing 200 toward the printed wiring board 3, after the soldering portions 202 are attached to the printed wiring board 3, it is necessary to cover the exposed soldering portions 202 with an insulating cover. Therefore, there has been a problem in that the procurement of those parts and the attaching operation are required.
In addition, with the battery connectors P1 and P2 of the first and second related arts, the openings for fitting the contact members at the time of assembly in a case where the contact members are fitted in the housing at the time of assembly are not open in a direction toward the printed wiring board side. Therefore, the sealing performance of the housing after mounting on the printed wiring board is low. Hence, there has been a problem in that dust, a liquid, or the like can enter the housing interior, and a fault is likely to occur.